Lord Adonis: The Government, through legislation and guidance, set the framework for planning and making provision for all children with special educational needs (SEN), including those with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs), and it is for local agencies to develop arrangements within that framework.
	The Education Act 1996 and associated regulations lay duties on local authorities to publish information on their SEN arrangements, including any plans to develop provision, and to keep those arrangements under review. The SEN code of practice gives statutory guidance to schools, local authorities and others on making provision in the early years and during the primary and secondary phases. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 lays a duty on schools and local authorities to plan to increase access to both premises and the curriculum for disabled children, including many children with ASDs.
	For ASDs, in particular, we have published non-statutory guidance. The autism exemplar under the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services, aimed at professionals in education, health and social services and the voluntary sector, illustrates optimal provision for a child with autism from the age of three through to 16. The ASDs good practice guidance, which the Departments for Education and Skills and Health published in 2002, makes "policy and planning" one of the key principles for good autism provision and advises that education, health and social services should work together to arrive at a clear picture of the size of the cohort of children with ASD and plan to meet future demand.

Lord Triesman: Negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina were officially opened on 25 November 2005. The first round of talks, which began on 25 January 2006, went well. Successive rounds of negotiations will continue until at least November 2006. As the EU has made clear, the pace and conclusion of these negotiations will depend on continued progress in key areas of reform, such as police restructuring and, in particular, full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The UK was listed as first for extensiveness, with coverage at 99.7 per cent. in September 2005 1 , which reflects the successful delivery on the target set in 2001 of having the most extensive broadband market in the G7 by the end of 2005.
	1 Ovum International Broadband Market Comparisons Update January 2006.
	Through Connecting the UK: The Digital Strategy the Government have made a commitment to address the so-called digital divide so that all citizens can take advantage of the digital world. Although fixed broadband connections will play a major role in delivery of digital media, mobile devices will also have a significant impact.
	As the development of broadband continues toward next-generation access in the UK, the Government are actively working to bring together private and public sectors, in addition to Ofcom, to gain effective dialogue across the value chain.

Lord Drayson: Sir John Chisholm was a civil servant from 1991 to 2001. Throughout this period he was a member of both the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme and the Civil Service Supplementary Earnings Pension Scheme, and the contributions made from public funds were made in accordance with the rules of these schemes and on the same basis as other civil servants. Details of his pension arrangements since he was appointed as chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency are available in the annual reports published by the agency since it was established in 1995, which were placed in the Library of the House at the time of publication. That information relating to the period between the end of the financial year 2000–01 and the establishment of QinetiQ on 1 July 2001 can be found in the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory annual report for 2001–02.

Lord Drayson: Information on the emoluments drawn by Sir John Chisholm and Graham Love in the last three financial years that they worked for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency is contained in the agency's annual reports which were placed in the Library of the House at the time of publication. That information relating to the period between the end of the financial year 2000–01 and the establishment of QinetiQ on 1 July 2001 can be found in the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory annual report for 2001–02.

Lord Drayson: Prior to the IPO, the only previous market valuation of the MoD's investment in QinetiQ was through the public-private partnership in February 2003. That process valued the MoD's majority equity stake at £78 million. Since then, the Government have received £82 million from the repayment of preference shares, and £347 million of net proceeds from the initial public offering. The MoD continues to own a 19 per cent. stake in QinetiQ, which was worth £250 million at the IPO issue price. Overall, this provides an annualised rate of return of 119.7 per cent.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The DTI has previously commissioned an independent assessment of a proposed tidal lagoon scheme in Swansea Bay. That assessment shows the unit cost of power to be around £160/MWh using an 8 per cent. discount rate.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The use of solar photovoltaics is one of the more expensive means of generating electricity. The Energy Saving Trust report on microgeneration states that a typical domestic installation costs around £12,500.
	However, the Government recognise that there are circumstances where photovoltaics could become more economic; for example, where the cost of connecting to the grid is particularly high, or where they are being used instead of a premium building cladding. There are also a range of non-cost values and attributes that make photovoltaics an attractive option, which is why the number of installations has grown substantially in recent years (from 589kWp in 1997 to around 8,164kWp in 2004).
	Part L of the Building Regulations sets levels for energy performance in ways that offer designers the flexibility to choose solutions that best meet their needs, are cost-effective and practical, and enable innovation. Without prescribing solutions this enables builders to take up the benefits of renewable and other "low and zero carbon" technologies.
	In September 2005, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced further improvements to these energy efficiency requirements that will come into effect in April 2006 that will encourage greater take-up of renewable and other low carbon systems. The overall package of proposed changes, including the further encouragement of low and zero carbon systems will save around 0.9 million tonnes of carbon per year by 2010 and help to combat climate change.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The following table gives details of applications under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for the development of wind farms in the Liverpool Bay area (i.e. from the north Wales coast to a line of latitude of 53° 40' N).
	
		
			 Wind farmsite Number ofturbines Generatingcapacity (asapplied for orconsented) Area Status 
			 North Hoyle 30 90MW 10 sq kms Consented. Wind farm operational 
			 Rhyl Flats 30 150MW 10 sq kms Consented 
			 Burbo Bank 30 90MW 10 sq kms Consented 
			 Gwynt y Mor Up to 250 750MW 124 sq kms Under consideration

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: In the past two years, computer equipment at the Department for Constitutional Affairs has been compromised by malicious programmes (such as worms, viruses, trojans) on 216 separate occasions. In 2004, there were 135 attacks, affecting 184 machines. In 2005, there were 81 attacks, affecting 87 machines. This is out of a total number of approximately 26,000 machines in the department. The malicious programmes were removed as soon as practicable, and had minimal impact on the day to day running of the department's operations. None of the department's key operational computer systems were compromised by these incidents.

Lord Adonis: In the past two years, no computer systems at the Department for Education and Skills have been compromised by malicious programmes.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: In the past two years, the computer systems at Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been compromised by malicious programmes (such as worms, viruses, etc) on 22 separate occasions.
	On four occasions, networked machines were affected. On the first occasion 75,000 machines were affected; on the second 200 machines were affected; on the third 20 machines were affected; on the fourth 25 machines were affected. On the remaining 18 occasions only a single machine was affected in each case.
	The malicious programmes were removed as soon as practicable, and did not have a significant impact on the day-to-day running of DWP operations.

Lord Triesman: We have urged Iran on many occasions to reinstate and maintain a full suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, which they agreed to in the Paris agreement, and which has been requested many times by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors as an essential confidence-building measure.
	Iran's resumption of uranium conversion last August violated their commitments in the Paris agreement and was a rejection of the process of negotiations under that agreement. Despite this, the E3/EU held exploratory discussions with Iran on 21 December 2005 to see whether it was possible to agree a basis for resuming negotiations. The E3/EU made clear that for any resumption of negotiations to be possible it would be essential for Iran to refrain from any further erosion of the suspension. In full knowledge of this, Iran resumed enrichment-related activity on 10 January 2006.
	The E3/EU have been flexible, twice last autumn delaying involving the Security Council to leave more time for diplomacy and for Iran to address international concerns. Iran have responded by hardening their position and further disregarding IAEA board resolutions. On 4 February, the IAEA board decided with an overwhelming majority to ask the IAEA director-general to report to the Security Council the steps required of Iran by the board. The onus is now on Iran to reinstate a full suspension without delay.

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will make representations to the Government of Israel following the deaths of Palestinian individuals caused by the Israel Defence Forces' military actions in Gaza and the West Bank since the Palestinian elections.

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will make representations to the Government of the United States on the agreement at Sharm-el-Sheikh which indicated that Quartet countries, including the United States, need to maintain neutrality between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the road map procedures.

Lord Triesman: All Quartet members seek to act as dependable intermediaries in the peace process, encouraging both parties to implement previous agreements towards a lasting two-state solution. We work closely with all the Quartet members and consult regularly on matters relating to the Middle East peace process.

Lord Drayson: The work of the Bevin Boys, the Land Army, air raid wardens, munitions workers and so many others was vital to Britain's survival during world war two and it is therefore entirely appropriate that such groups have been, and will continue to be, included in commemorative events. I also welcome the representation of groups who played a key role in the war effort at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day.

Lord Warner: We are finalising the details of our response to the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of HL v UK (the Bournewood case). We are grateful to the many individuals and organisations who commented on the consultation document published last year. We plan to publish our formal response to that consultation in the near future.

Lord Warner: Very few dentists provide exclusively private care and where dentists engage in private practice, they typically provide a mix of private and National Health Service services.
	The main reason cited by the British Dental Association (BDA) and individual dentists for increasing the proportion of work done privately has been concern that the current fee-per-item system of remuneration in the General Dental Services (GDS) creates a "treadmill" effect that leads to excessive workload and insufficient time for preventative care. The new GDS contracts, being implemented from April, abolish the fee-per-item system and provide for dentists to receive a fixed annual NHS income (which will typically give a net income of around £80,000 on average) in return for providing an agreed level of courses of treatment. This is designed to address the long-standing concerns expressed by the BDA and the profession, as well as promoting a more preventative approach that will have benefits for patients.
	In addition, over the last 10 years there has also been a significant increase in demand for private cosmetic treatment, which is, quite rightly, outside the scope of the NHS. However, this has contributed to an increase in the range of private treatments offered by dentists.

Lord Warner: The number of National Health Service patients who have been treated with arterial stents in each year since 1997 for which figures are available is detailed as follows.
	Data on how many of these patients are still alive and how many have required stent replacement due to stent failure are not collected centrally.
	Count of finished consultant episodes and patients for selected procedures for arterial stents.
	NHS patients treated in NHS Hospitals.
	
		NHS Hospitals, England 1997–98 to 2004–05
		
			 Year Finished Consultant Episodes Patient Counts 
			 1997-98 5,234 4,943 
			 1998-99 7,042 6,689 
			 1999-2000 9,359 8,945 
			 2000-01 12,983 12,206 
			 2001-02 17,524 16,702 
			 2002-03 22,881 23,936 
			 2003-04 29,340 28,285 
			 2004-05 36,086 34,796 
		
	
	Footnotes:
	Finished consultant episode (FCE) and patient counts
	Available data for NHS patients treated in NHS hospitals shows information for those treated with arterial stents since 1997 in two forms: finished consultant episodes and patient counts. Finished consultant episodes refer to a period of care under which a patient is admitted under one consultant and an arterial stent is used as the main form of treatment. Therefore a patient may have more than one FCE per year. Patient counts data refer to individual patients; however, there are validation and data completeness issues with this data.
	This data includes stents used in arteries in the heart, neck, head, leg and kidney.
	Finished Consultant Episode (FCE)
	An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider.
	Patient counts
	Patient counts are based on the unique patient identifier HESID. This identifier is based on patients' date of birth, postcode, sex, local patient identifier and NHS number, using an agreed algorithm. Where data is incomplete, HESID might erroneously link episodes or fail to recognise episodes for the same patient. Care is therefore needed, especially where duplicate records persist in the data. The patient count cannot be summed across a table where patients may have episodes in more than one cell.
	Definition of Arterial Stent Procedures:
	Main Operation is one of the following codes:
	K48 Other open operations on coronary artery
	K49 Transluminal balloon angioplasty of coronary artery
	K50 Other therapeutic transluminal operations on coronary artery
	L13.8 Other specified transluminal operations on pulmonary artery
	L26.1 Percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty of aorta
	L26.2 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of aorta nec
	L31.1 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of carotid artery
	L35.8 Other specified transluminal operations on cerebral artery
	L39.1 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of subclavian artery
	L43.1 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of renal artery
	L47.1 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of visceral branch of abdominal aorta nec
	L54.1 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of iliac artery
	L63.1 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of femoral artery
	L71.1 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of artery nec
	Secondary Procedure.
	All of the above must occur with a code of Y02.2 insertion of prosthesis into organ noc in any of the secondary positions.
	Main Operation
	The main operation is the first recorded operation in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and is usually the most resource-intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details—for example, time waited—but the figures for "all operations count of episodes" give a more complete count of episodes with an operation.
	Secondary Procedure
	As well as the main operative procedure, there are up to 11 (three prior to 2002–03) secondary operation fields in hospital episode statistics (HES) that show secondary or additional procedures performed on the patient during the episode of care.
	Grossing (Finished Consultant Episodes)
	Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/invalid clinical data, except for 2003–04 and 2004–05, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
	Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We launched our welfare reform Green Paper, A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work, on 24 January. Since then, more than 2,500 copies have been distributed.
	We are also producing alternative versions of the Green Paper—Word, Braille, audio, large print, easy-read and Welsh language. People can request copies of these via our e-mail and telephone contact points. The Braille, audio and large print versions have already been distributed, and we took delivery of the Welsh language version on 15 February.
	It does take time to prepare the easy-read version in a properly accessible format, with appropriate illustrations. The first draft of that version has been approved and the final version will be with us on 27 February 2006. Given this delay, we will respond sensibly and sensitively to individuals who require additional time to make their response. We also have a telephone helpline to provide one-to-one advice to ;
	individuals and organisations in understanding our proposals.
	Ministers and officials worked closely with the stakeholder community over the past year in developing our proposals. We will continue to do so.

Lord Triesman: The UK has committed £19 million of funding this financial year to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). This brings our total contribution to AMIS, since its inception, to almost £32 million. We are using the majority of our contribution to provide equipment. We have purchased more than 900 vehicles, and are funding the airlift of troops into Darfur. We have contributed rapid deployment kits for the troops as well as ration kits. We are also providing military and civilian policing advice, expertise and training.
	The existing United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), which operates outside Darfur, is supplied by the UN and therefore does not need bilateral grants of equipment. The proposed UN successor mission to AMIS will be in a similar position.